Sausage casing and method of preparing the same



July 19, 1932. w. F. HENDERSON E'r AL 1,868,203

SAUSAGE CASING AND METHOD OF PREPARING THE SAME original Filed April 14.1926 /l//l//l/l/l/l/l/l//l//l/ Patented July 19, 1932 T. OFFICE'WILLI'.AI I'. HENDERSON AND HAROLD E; LIETBICH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,ASSIGN- ORS TO THE VISIING CORIOBATION, OF CHICAGO, "ILLINOIS, .ACORPORATION' OF VIRGINIA.

N I SA'O'BAGE OABING .AND METHOD OF PREPARING THE SAME Qriginalapplication led April 14, 1920, Serial No. 101,958. Divided and thisapplication ,illed August 12, H

t 1926. Serial No. 128,886.

The present invention relates particularly to animal intestinesausage-casmgs and a method of preparing the same.

Theprimary object of the invention 1s to produce animal casings whichcan be readily kept in good condition and which can be used with greatfacility in the sausage-stuifing operation. In accordance wlth' theusual practice in the art, hanks of casmgs, tied together are preserved1n salt, or salt water; and w en these casings-are to be used, it isnecessary to untie the hanks, soak out the salt,`and run water throu hthe casings to straighten them out and istend them suficiently to permitthem to be used. By the improved method described herein, theobjectionable practice is overcome, time and expense are saved, andthework of handlmgthe casings is'much more'conveniently performed. Y y Thepresent application constitutes -a division of our application 101,958,filed April 14;.,4 1926 (Patent 1,612,508, December 28,

In accordance with the presentprocess, the animal casings are soaked andwashed, if necessary; the casings are then treated p with a fluidadapted to introduce an ingre-l dient of hygroscopic character into thecaps.- ings; and the casings are then dried. After drying, the casingsmay be shirred upon a paper tube, if desired; and when the stuliingoperation is to be performed, the aper tube `may be slipped onto thehornof t e stuing machine and the casing may be paid out from the hornof the machine as the stutling operation proceeds.V

The accompanying drawing illustrates apparatus .suitable for carryin outthe casingtreating process, which is esigned to pro` vide a finishedsausage-casing which can be immediately filled with meat, or `which cankept'in'storage for an indelinite'period without deteriorationrequirements.y l

In the drawin Fig. 1 represents a vertical sectional view o apparatusfor immer'sing a casing in a suitable' solution adapted to introduceavhygroscopic agent into thev casing, the solution employed beingpreferably a yposed of an open-,weave fabric,

.said tube being suspended fromastrip-like) l `support'Edepenfdm fromthetop#.wall'koflv gF, ablower device-for and stuffedv to meet dilutesolution of lycerin; Fig. 2, a broken vertical sectional v1ewofsuitabl'e drying apparatus; Fig. 3, a verticalnsverse sectional viewtaken as indicate at yline 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a broken sectional viewof the advance end ortion of the sausage-casing while it is in atedwithin a suitable confining tube; Fig. 5, a fragmentary viewillustrating the manner in which the advance end of a wet casin may besecured to the rear end of a dried cas1ng so that'the wet casing will bedrawn into the confining tube through the medium of the dried casingwhile the latter is bein withdrawn from the confining tube; and lgig. 6,an end elevational view of the. confinlngtube with a portion brokenaway. l

In the illustration given, A designates a vat containing a fluid adaptedto introduce an lingredient of hygroscopic character-into the materialof Ithe sausage casing, which is des'-` ignated 1, said fluid beingpreferably a 20% 'solution ofl glycerin and water; B designates a "pairof rolls throu h which the casing is drawn from a purifying bath; and Cdesignates a pair of rolls for expressing from the casingt e excess-gly'fcerin solution as the casing emerges from the bath, which' isdesig'- .nated 2. The casing is guided overa roll 3 and under .a roll4in passing through the' vesselA.

Also, in the illustration given, D' desig-4 y l nates "a3-drying chamberywhich may bev .conveniently thirty-fiveto 'fifty feet length; E, acasingfcon'finin'g tube preferablycom-` the drying chamber; n' y g p pcirculating heated air throughlthe chaniberl D; and G, means forinflating" while it is within the confining tubeE.

The dryingehambe'r Dmaybe; of Suit.; form andl construction.` In the ilstra-v able tion given, it isin the form o'fan elongated such as voile,

the casin'gl f rectangular box having the blower F attached maybe liftedto provide openings 6 and 7 for convenience in introducing and removingthe sections of sausage casing.

The casing-confining tube E preferablyis formed from a stripl of porouscloth which is folded upon itself and has its margins 8 secured to thesupporting strip E by means of tacks 9. The loop of clothmay beexypanded into tubular form by means of rings l applied to the ends. Theend portion of the cloth loop maybe inserted through the ring and foldedback over the ring, as indicated at 11, and stitched, as indicated at12.

The blower F may receive a supply of dry warm air from any suitablesource (not shown) with which the pipe 13 connects. The pipe 13 is shownfitted with a fan 14.

Any suitable pressure apparatus G may be employed for inating thesausage casing. In the illustration given, an air pressure tank 15communicating with a hose 16 through a. valve 17 is shown. 'I he hose16' is fitted at its free end with a small tube 18. As shown l. in Fig.2, the rear end of the sausage casing is collapsed upon the tube 18 andsecured thereto in any suitable manner, as by means of a rubber band 19.

At the advance end, the sausa e casing has A. yinserted therein a smallglass tu e 20 having a constriction 20a. The advance end of the casingis secured to the constricted portion ofthe tube by means of a string21.

In Fig. 5, the left hand casing 1 is assumed to be a dry casing and theright hand tube'l is assumed to be a wet casing. In the first instance,a casing may be introduced into the v confining tube E by passing alead-string through the confining tube and using it to draw the casinginto the tube. After the tube has thus been introduced and dried, thepressure is released by disconnecting the tube 18 from the rear end ofthe casing. The dried casing thencollapses, and the string 21 at theadvance" end of the fresh casing may be tied to the rear end of thedried casing, so

that the dried casing may be used as a means for drawing the wet casinginto the confiningv tube.4 It will be understood that Jeach wet casingis preparatorily equipped with a tube 20 having a constriction therein;and 1t w1ll wbe understood further thatafter the wet casing has beendrawn into the confining tube, the pressure apparatus is connected withthe rear jend of the casing and employed toma-intain a gentle inilatingpressure within the casing'while the casingis bein dried. The tank 15 mareceive a supply o dried moderately heate air frgm any suitable source,not

4 shown.

In. practice, it is preferred to have the confining tube E ofslightlygreater. diameter than the diameterl o the sausage casing asreceived from the vat A. After the casing has been introduced within theconfining tube, it is subjected to ,gentle iniatin pressure whichpreferably 1s such as to istend,

' free moisture.

y sired,- the use of a confining tube during the vinflation anddryingmay be omitted.

As has been indicated, the excess g1 cerin solution is expressed fromthe casing ythe rolls C as the casing is drawn from the bath 2. Whilethe strength of the glycerin solution may vary within certain limits, itis preferred to use about a 20% solution. The purpose is to leaveincorporated in or upon the casing, evenly distributed, a very smallamount of glycerin after the dryin operation. The very small percentageo glycerin which remains in the casing serves as aV hygroscopic agentwhich attracts from the atmosphere sufficient moistu e to keep thesausage casing pliable and mo erately tough. On the other hand, it4isdesirable to avoid the use of too much glycerin, as the presence oftoo much glycerinvwould cause so much moisture to be attracted from theatmosphere as to be objectionable. T00 much moisfrom the drier, itcontains substantially no After the dried casing remains in the air fora. short time, it becomes suliciently moist to enable it to be used tobest advantage in the stuffing operation. The moisture, however, is notsensibly present.

That is, the casing doesnotfeel wet, is plia-y ble and moderately soft.-Y

If desired, a section of casing of any de- "fsired length-may be shirredupon a paper tube, such tube being adapted to be sh pcd upon the horn ofa stufling machine and) fed readily therefrom during thestutling opera-kl tion. vIt is possible, for example, to load a tube about ten inches inlength-with perhaps thirty or forty feet of sausage casing.

The drying operation may be carried on by two o eratives,.one at eachend of the drier. T e doors 6 and 7 may be closed during the dryingoperation, and may be opened to enable the necessary mani ulations to bemade in withdrawing the dried casing and introducin a wet casing. It hasbeen determined t at a casing can be suitably dried by means of theapparatus 12o fi 5 escape of moisture from the casing vduring the dryingoperation. While it is preferred to use a cloth tube, any suitableporous, or foraminous, confining tube may be employed.

The improved casing may, Without injury, be compactly shirred upon asupfporting tube adapted to be ap lied to a stu er-horn; or the casingsmay e packaged in any other desired manner. The casi-ng possesses suchqualities that it will slip readily from the stuier-horn.

When the casing, prepared asA described above, is taken from storage,for use in the packing house, it is ready to be filled in the conditionin which the packer receives it.

2 Wet, or very moist casings, must be soaked I up. Such an ,operatlon 1sunnecessary Where theimproved casings are used. As has been indicated,the improved casings lend themselves to the practice of 'mounting thecasings on short dummy tubes which can readily be applied tostuifer-horns. This saves a great deal of time in the packing room. Forexample, where an animal intestine is used in accordance with the usualpractice, more time is consumed in drawing the casing onto the horn thanis used in stuffing the casing.

While it is preferred to employ a limiting tube for preventing unduedistention of the casing, and producing a desirable uniformity in thedrying operation, animal casings may be inflated and dried without theuse of a limiting tube.

The improved casings may be used for producing sausages, Wieners, etc.Regardless of the size of the product and the kind of stuiiing materialemployed, whether meat or other material, these products are to beregarded as sausages within the terms of a the appended claims.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly aspermissible, in view of the prior art. 4

What we regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An animal intestine sausage-casing having incorporated therein, priorto removal u of its natural water content, a hygroscopic agent to rendersaid casing suitable for filling from a stutter-horn Without preliminarysoftening treatment.

2. An animal intestine sausage-casing having incorporated therein, priorto removal of its natural water content, a small percentage of glycerinto render said casing suitable for filling from a stuffer-horn withoutpreliminary softening treatment. 3. An animal intestine sausage-casing,

largely deprived of its natural Water content, and having incorporatedtherein a hygroscopic agent which renders it soft and pliable, therebyadapting it for sliirring on a stufler-horn without preliminarysoftening treatment.

4. As a marketable product, an animal intestine sausage-casing, largelydeprived of its natural Water content, and containing a hygroscopicagent which renders it soft and pliable, thereby adapting it for fillingfrom a stufi'er-horn without further softening treatment.

WILLIAM F. HENDERSON. HAROLD E. DIETRICH.

